Carragher hands boost to Rafa

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has confirmed that Jamie Carragher has recovered from injury and is available for the Europa League encounter against Romanian side Unirea Urziceni on Thursday.

The defender had to be substituted during last week's defeat at Arsenal after picking up an abductor problem.

Yossi Benayoun has also been able to return to training after recovering from a rib injury, but Benitez will not rush the Israeli or Fernando Torres, who has been sidelined with a knee problem, back into first-team action too quickly.

The former Valencia coach told the Reds' official website: "Carra is training again and he will be available which is very good news for us. He is an important player for us.

"Yossi is training with the team. He still has a problem with his rib but at least he is training. We will decide about him on Thursday.

"Torres and (Glen) Johnson are progressing and working with the fitness coach. They are very close but not available yet.

"It is important to keep an eye on them all. There is a difference between players being available and players being ready to play a game.

"If they come back early and are ready to play, that is good news for us but we have got to make sure that we do not push them back too soon.

"We need to make sure they will be okay for the last two months of the season. They are all getting that bit closer.

"But when you have a broken rib, like Yossi, or you have the meniscus problem that has kept Fernando out, you cannot reduce the time.

"It is impossible to get it down to three or four weeks but hopefully it won't be too long now and we will be really pleased when they are back. They have quality and, of course, they will help us. But, not only that, they will give us good competition for places."